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Written in late 1966,[4] "So You Want to be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" has been described by Byrds expert Tim Conners as "an acerbic, but good-natured swipe at the success of manufactured rock bands like the Monkees".[5]The Monkees television series had debuted in America in September 1966, and had launched the pre-fabricated band to international fame.[6] The manufactured nature of the group caused the Byrds' bass player, Chris Hillman, and lead guitarist, Jim McGuinn, to look upon the current state of the pop world with more than a little cynicism—something that was reflected in the song's lyrics.[6]

Musically, "So You Want to be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" features a driving, circular Rickenbacker guitar riff by McGuinn[7] and, what Conners has called, an "unstoppable bass hook" from Hillman.[5] Hillman has stated that he composed the song's bass part during a recording session for South African musician Hugh Masekela.[5] The song also features Masekela's trumpet playing, which represents the first use of brass on a Byrds recording.[5][8] In addition, "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" features the sound of hysterical teenage pop fans screaming. These screams were recorded at an August 15, 1965 Byrds' concert in Bournemouth, by the band's publicist, Derek Taylor, at McGuinn's request.[6][9]

Rolling Stone editor David Fricke has written that although the song's lyrics are heavily sarcastic, beneath the playful cynicism there is a deeper, implicit irony to the song; The Byrds had, themselves, achieved almost overnight success with the release of their debut single, a cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man".[10] However, the band members all knew, from their common bitter personal experiences, that the most difficult part of success was in remaining successful, staying ahead of the curve artistically, and staying sane under the immense pressure of stardom.[10]

Some people have accused us of being bitter for writing that song, but it's no more bitter than "Positively 4th Street." In fact, it isn't as bitter as that. We were thumbing through a teen magazine and looking at all the unfamiliar faces and we couldn't help thinking: "Wow, what's happening … all of a sudden here is everyone and his brother and his sister-in-law and his mother and even his pet bullfrog singing rock 'n' roll." So we wrote "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" to the audience of potential rock stars, those who were going to be, or who wanted to be, and those who actually did go on to realize their goals.[8]

Hookfoot, the British group who served as Elton John's backing band for a number of years, also released the song as a single in 1974.[16] The song was covered by Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, as part of the track "Telegram", on their 1976 album Close Enough for Rock 'n' Roll.Black Oak Arkansas covered the song on their 1977 The Best of Black Oak Arkansas album, with the song later being included on the Hot & Nasty: The Best of Black Oak Arkansas compilation album in 1993.[17][18]

In 1984, McGuinn joined R.E.M. on stage at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, for a rendition of "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star". R.E.M.'s Peter Buck explained: "When we played 'Rock 'n' Roll Star', where it has that part where it goes 'la la la la la la la', he played C-F-G, and I said, 'That's weird, we do C-D-G'. Then he played it that way and said, 'You know, I like that better. I think I'll change it'. And I went, 'You mean you're going to change the chord of the song?' and he went, 'Yeah, I've never played it that way, and I like it a lot better'. Roger McGuinn's been playing that song for twenty years, and here I suggest he plays it this way, and he does!"[21]

Pearl Jam have covered "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" a number of times at live concerts.[29] Pearl Jam's singer, Eddie Vedder, also covered it during his 2012 American solo tour.[30]

The British rock band Charlie released a song titled "Killer Cut" in 1979, that is essentially a sequel to "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" and begins with the lyrics "So you want to be a rock and roll star, well, times have changed/That's all I'll say/You still need an electric guitar but most of all you need that radio, radio play." Counting Crows have been known to perform a few lines from "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" as an introduction to their song "Mr. Jones" during live performances.[31][32]